A65285:2044
A Body of Practical Divinity
A body of practical divinity consisting of above one hundred seventy six sermons on the lesser catechism composed by the reverend assembly of divines at Westminster : with a supplement of some sermons on several texts of Scripture / by Thomas Watson ...
London: printed for Thomas Parkurst, 1692
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Quest. What are the Incentives to provoke and inflame our Love to God?
Resp. 1. Gods Benefits bestowed on us. A Prince who bestows continual Favours on a Subject, if that Subject have any Ingenuity, he cannot but love his Prince. God is continually heaping Benefits upon us: He fills our hearts with food and gladness, Acts 14.17. As the Rock followed Israel, whither ever they went streams of Water out of the Rock followed them. So Gods Blessings follow us every day: We swim in a Sea of Mercy. That Heart is hard that is not prevailed with by all Gods Blessings, to love him; Magnes amoris amor. Kindness works on a Brute. The Ox knows his Owner.
Resp. 1. Gods Benefits bestowed on us. A Prince who bestows continual Favours on a Subject, if that Subject have any Ingenuity, he cannot but love his Prince. God is continually heaping Benefits upon us: He fills our hearts with food and gladness, Acts 14.17. As the Rock followed Israel, whither ever they went streams of Water out of the Rock followed them. So Gods Blessings follow us every day: We swim in a Sea of Mercy. That Heart is hard that is not prevailed with by all Gods Blessings, to love him; Magnes amoris amor. Kindness works on a Bruit. The Ox knows his Owner.
2. Love to God would make Duties of Religion Facile and Pleasant. I confess to him that hath no love to God, Religion must needs be a Burden. And I wonder not to hear him say, What a weariness is it to serve the Lord? It is like rowing against Tide. But Love oils the Wheels, it makes Duty a Pleasure. Why are the Angels so swift and winged in Gods Service, but because they love him? Jacob thought seven years, but little for the love he did bear to Rachel: Love is never weary: He who loves Money is not weary of telling it: And he who loves God, is not weary of serving him.